( m ) 



wo»uld have put tne in possession of one of the best mansions in Villa 

 Rica. At tea the worthy pastor introduced me to several officers, 

 among whom was the late governor of the Diamond district, who gave 

 me much information concerning it and shewed me an aqua marina, 

 which had been found in one of the washings. It was a perfect 

 hexagonal prism, full seven inches in length and three quarters of 

 an inch in diameter, clear and free from flaws. After some hours of 

 very agreeable conversation, the part^ broke up, and it being dark, 

 I was conducted to my inn by a servant of the vicar's, with his 

 lantern. At the corners of the streets, along which we passed, there 

 were groups of the lower order of people offering their prayers ; in 

 a niche above them was a figure of the Virgin, with tapers burning 

 before it. A voice in a low solemn tone uttered the vespers, the 

 responses were made by the multitude. I took off my hat as I 

 passed, knowing that such a token of reverence is always expected. 



The next day was occupied chiefly in removing our equipage to 

 our new lodgings in Rua de I>ereito ; to this service our soldiers 

 were particularly attentive, and left us nothing to do which they 

 could do for us. On the day following we were honoured with visits 

 from the judge, the general, the vicar, and many of the principal 

 inhabitants, all of whom testified their respect for us in the most 

 polite manner. Many of them afterwards sent me presents of fine 

 sugar, coffee, sweet-meats, cheese, and some good bread. One 

 gentleman, to give me a proof of the richness of the soil and salu-^ 

 brity of the climate, sent me a cabbage, full fourteen inches in dia- 

 meter, when stripped of its outside leaves ; a finer vegetable never 

 "was produced, • 



When our leisure permitted, we took excursions to view the town 

 and its vicinity, sometimes on horseback and sometimes on foot, 

 generally going and returning in a different direction. It is situated 

 on the side of a large mountain, connected with others forming an 

 immense chain, of which it is one of the highest. Most of the 

 streets range, in steps, as it were, from the base to the summit, and 



